Khachapuri: bread + cheese = heaven
It’s something I wish weren’t true, but I have to admit it: I love carbs. I mean, what’s better than hot, fresh bread?
You know what else I love, despite myself? Fat. I think most people do; it’s probably hard-wired and evolutionary. So what actually is better than hot, fresh bread? How about smothering it with something deliciously fat—like cheese?
Sure, there’s our old friend pizza. But if you haven’t already met, let me introduce you to a new friend: khachapuri. This is the heavenly cheese-bread of Georgia. (That’s Georgia of the Caucasus, not Georgia of the Confederacy.)
Meghruli Khachapuri
Image | www.georgianjournal.ge
There are several kinds of khachapuri. Imeruli may be the most common: a thin, circular bread stuffed with salty white cheese. You’ll also see Megruli quite often. It’s like Imeruli but with another layer of molten cheese spread on top.
To me, this combination of carbs and fat is irresistible. And there’s one kind of khachapuri that’s the artery-clogging paragon: the Black Sea regional specialty, Adjaruli khachapuri. The bread is baked into the shape of a boat, filled with melted cheese, topped with a pat of butter and a fried egg. Oh man. Sometimes we just need to indulge our evolutionary cravings and dive in. The cardiologist appointment comes later.
Adjaruli khachapuri
Image | Ben Curtis
Georgians are, in general, wizards at stuffing bread with deliciousness. Lobiani, for example, is bread stuffed with beans. I’ll never forget a life-changing tube of lobiani I had in the town of Stepantsminda in the Caucasus Mountains: it came hot out of the oven from a tiny shack by the bus station. You can also find other varieties stuffed with potato or spinach.
Lobiani
Image | Ben Curtis
Pretty much any Georgian restaurant will offer some khachapuri options. It’s one of the cornerstones of the country’s cuisine. The ingredients are so simple—flour, eggs, butter, milk, yeast and cheese—that khachapuri is also used as a basic indicator of cost of living in Georgia. The “Khachapuri Index” charts the prices of these ingredients, giving a picture of inflation.
Georgian cuisine, I think, is one of the world’s best, though it’s only now becoming more widely known outside the former Soviet Union. Within the former Soviet Union, it’s pretty easy to find Georgian restaurants in any larger city. I’ve enjoyed Georgian fare in Kyiv, Ukraine; Bishek, Kyrgyzstan; and Riga, Latvia for instance. There are some Georgian restaurants further afield, too; I know of good ones in London and Berlin.
It’s worth the effort to seek out this wonderful culinary tradition. Perhaps there’s even a Georgian restaurant near where you live. But if you might not be in khachapuri-land anytime soon, then here are a few recipes so you can try it. Once you taste it, I think you’ll agree: bread + cheese = heaven!
